


One of those faces

by KahunaBurger



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/M, M/M, Winteriron preslash, fake exes, mildly doomed pepperony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 08:22:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21267971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KahunaBurger/pseuds/KahunaBurger
Summary: Tony wants to ask Pepper something without having to ask,  Pepper wants to know who this oddly friendly ex is, and Bucky just wants to check out the Activities Fair without his stupid face getting him roped into a rescue.





	One of those faces

**Author's Note:**

> This fic idea required Tony to have a girlfriend and I used Pepper. I tagged the relationship for those any who have it blacklisted, but if you are looking for a Pepperony endgame, I'm sorry it took up your screen space.

Bucky figured he must just have one of those faces. A heroic face, maybe, or a sucker one depending on his mood. He'd tried long stoner hair, leather jackets, tattoos, even boxed his way to a welterweight championship trying to cultivate an aura of violence…

"Oh, hey James, fancy seeing you here!"

But whether he was out at a bar or checking out a student activity fair to see if there was anything that would fit a slightly older than usual transfer, something about his goddamn face still screamed out, 'this guy is gonna help you, pick him for your rescue needs!' 

"Hey, sweet thing." Okay, so his face wasn't lying, per se, but it still didn't need to advertise.

Normally the next step was to step in and put a semi possessive arm around the damsel de jour's shoulders, but the situation wasn't quite fitting that. The damsel was a guy, no skin off his back there, young looking but probably not jailbait and cute. But he already had his arm around the waist of an immaculately attractive young woman and seemed pretty happy about it. And it was 'fancy meeting you,' not 'there you are,' so this wasn't a standard fake boyfriend operation.

It was some kinda operation, though, the low key, 'please go along,' look was unmistakable at this point in Bucky's life.

"Pepper, this is James, the friendly ex we all dream of when we say it's a mutual breakup." He was the ex instead of chasing one off? That was new. Also, had the guy made a lucky guess or- oh, the couple was right by the sheet he'd put his email address on before he moved down the table. He was using the new uni one at jamesbb to keep the spam in one place.

"Hey, sometimes people just don't click as a couple, no need to hold a grudge, right?" He grinned and offered his hand to the woman, who only hesitated a moment before taking it.

Damsel was looking at her now as he nodded and said, "And James, the illustrious Virginia - I'm barely getting away with calling her Pepper, don't try - further proof for the 'Tony somehow dates way above his weight class' hypothesis." Smooth, damsel now had a name. Still confused, though.

"Lovely to meet you, Virginia."

"Er, you as well, I'm sure." Her smile was somewhat offset by the small furrow between her brows and Tony was still watching her. "So you two were friends and, er, tried dating?"

Tony gave the tiniest of flinches but grinned broadly. "Oh we succeeded marvelously at dating. The friends came along with that, though, not really first."

Bucky grinned back, only a little lasciviously. "And I'm glad it did, mutual attraction can only take you so far, right?" 

"Ah." The furrow had deepened, and Tony's smile got stiffer. "Well. I'm sorry we can't take more time for you to catch up, but we have to grab lunch before Tony starts his lab prep."

Tony nodded and didn't try to rope Bucky into the lunch, so he figured the operation was concluded. But still…

"Oh, Tony, I almost forgot." He dug out his phone. "I had a massive battery catastrophe and lost a lot of numbers, can I get yours again real quick?"

It wasn't the best excuse, but it just got a smile and, "if you'd listened when I tried to set you up with a cloud backup, you luddite…" while a contact was swiftly set up.

"Later then, nice to meet you, Virginia!" He waved and headed off. Maybe he'd just go home before his stupid face could rope him into anything else.

* * *

Tony was cleaning up after his last lab session and wondering how many kids would drop because they didn't want a professor who looked younger than them when his phone chirped.

**Unknown : For the record, I'm not a luddite. And I actually go by Bucky.**

Oh, his knight in shining leather. That had been the stuff of wacky romcoms, which he usually tried to avoid, but it had been worth taking the chance.

**Is that from one of the Bs? And thank you, I know that was weird.**

**Bucky : Different, for sure. Usually I'm playing boyfriend for the ex, not pretending to be an ex for the girlfriend.**

**'Usually'? Do you get roped into romcom shenanigans a lot?**

**Bucky : More often than anyone not making SAG wages should…**

Tony laughed out loud and another chirp sounded before he could respond.

**Bucky : I am curious about why… if it's not too personal?**

Giving up on cleaning, he sat on the table and dove in.

**This will probably** **sound dumb, but I needed to be sure Pepper was taking me seriously about being bi.**

**Like I told her when we first met, and she seemed really cool with it…**

**But it started feeling more and more like she wasn't cool so much as humoring me?**

**Like it was a trendy college thing or a political stance, not something important about me.**

**And I was getting a vibe like if she did take it seriously, she wouldn't be nearly as cool with it.**

**Bucky : Yeah, that sounds uncomfortable.**

**But it felt weird just bringing it up, and I didn't want to say something that would make her think I wasn't loyal, so I thought**

**Hey, friendly ex! **

**It made sense at the time.**

**Bucky : Makes sense to me now, too.**

He smiled at the screen and felt his shoulders relax a little. He had been sure the guy would judge him for being so awkward he had to make up an ex to start a conversation with his girlfriend, but Bucky was just as nice a guy as he seemed.

**Bucky : So how did it go?**

Ugh, the crucial question.

**Lunch was tense. I was right that she hadn't really taken me seriously, and she didn't seem happy knowing. Said she had a lot to think about.**

**Bucky : Damn. Sorry, man.**

**Well, figure if this ends us, better sooner than later, right?**

**Bucky : That's the spirit. **

**Well, gotta get going. Thanks again.**

**Bucky : No problem.**

Tony put away the last of the parts and locked up. He felt better about things than he had after the lunch and fortified against whatever Pepper would say when he called her from home. 

And he had a feeling that Bucky could end up being a really good friend. He just had one of those faces.

  
  



End file.
